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There is still scope for match fixing here. Take WD for example(2 qualified same country pairs), if one pair lose and finish second in group then the next could lose on purpose as there is a chance they could get drawn together in the next round, although if they both finish second they might end up in opposite sides of draw and not meet to the final and no chance of meeting in the very next round. Forgot to mention the country in the example is China

A Florida lawyer is reportedly suing the Spurs after coach Gregg Popovich rested four of his playersduring a nationally televised game against the Heat in Miami in November.ESPN.com reports that Larry McGuinness alleges that the Spurs violated Florida’s “deceptive and fair trade practices law” when Popovich sent Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Danny Green and Tony Parker to San Antonio rather than suit them up against the Heat.

On Monday, Larry McGuinness filed a class action suit in Miami-Dade County, stating that the team’s head coach, Gregg Popovich, “intentionally and surrepticiously” [sic] sent their best players home without the knowledge of the league, the team and the fans attending the Nov. 29 game against the Heat. McGuinness contends that he, as well as other fans, “suffered economic damages” as a result of paying a premium price for a ticket that shouldn’t cost more.…“It was like going to Morton’s Steakhouse and paying $63 for porterhouse and they bring out cube steak,” said McGuinness, who said he bought his ticket on the resale market. “That’s exactly what happened here.”

that's just ridiculous!
a coach should of course always be allowed to give his players a rest.
it's the same with badminton: if they don't want to play, they should be allowed not to play. this prevents injuries and should be absolutely common sense...

the Spurs should have just benched the star players, so people who loves to litigate can't sue the team. to be technical, i think it's the "sending the players home without the league's knowledge" that cost them the fine? sorry, i live in the states but i don't follow much sports, let alone their regulation details.

BWF want group stages so there are more matches for bad countries Olympic spirit etc, So my vote, respecting everyone's views is to have groups but for only 1st in group to go through, there everybody happy!?

The simplest solution to the problem (whilst still keeping round robin) would be to blind draw the knock out brackets only after the last RR match has been played. That being said, I am in favor of a 128 draw, 16 double byes for top ranked players, 16 byes for 2nd tier, all countries that want/can afford to send can enter a player/team, else the empties are filled with a 2nd player per country starting at the top ranking downward (max 2 players/teams per country per event). Thoughts?

I think the Olympics committee just want to make sure that everyone gets to play more since the players have to travel from all over the world and it's a big event that only happens every 4 years.

Unlike other sports, not every nation competes in the badminton, only the top players - there is no badminton equivalent of Eric the Eel competing - and top players should be used to knock out as most other tournaments they compete in are like that.

Having said that I'm happy with round robin with some protection against the fixing.

The alternative is, like the Commonwealth Games, is have two events - an individual knockout event (and open it up to more countries not just the top players), and a team event, which can either be knockout or on a league basis. That way you are guaranteed more than one game !